If not, who would you recommend?

Long story short is I've been using the same tax prep service since 2015. I've been happy up until this year. Sent all my information to them 4 weeks ago, they said expect a refund my April 23rd. It was a small refund so I didn't overpay by too much.

Fast forward to today and I e-mailed them asking about the status of my refund. They said I have to pay $250 for the e-file fee. on the charges sheet they sent me, there was $300 for the tax prep and about $50 in other fees. Now they want another $250? Told them no thanks.

I might use Turbo Tax. I don't think my status is too complicated. Married with 1 child, filing jointly. I have some W2s, a 1098 and wife has a 1099 of a couple thousand dollars. I do have some deductions such as tolls and moving expenses (moved cross country last summer) which I'd like to deduct. Also had some small capital gains due to stock sales. No mortgage, not a homeowner yet.

Should I still hire someone or just Turbo Tax this thing?

Have used Turbo Tax for years. Never had a problem. They have different levels. Choose one that fits your situation. They guide you every step of the way. You can't make a mistake along the way and finish, because in the end, they will review the whole thing and pick out what errors you've made and make you correct them before e-filing.

Before I started using them, I had a tax preparer do mine. Guess what he used? Turbo Tax. After that, I said heck, I'm using it, also.

I've used it many times and used it this year, but sort of regret using it this time. The price is now 2-3 times what it was when I started using it.

I used the H&R Block online system a couple years ago with no complaints, don't know why I went back to TT.

I've used it for years. Did their CPA when i had a windfall 2-3 years back. No complaints but I'm pretty easy standard deductions guy.

I have used it many years now and it is easy since they have my tax history.

I've used it for about a decade now, and am quite happy with it.

A quick check of my files show I have been using it since 2010. I have zero complaints over that period for some pretty complex returns. If you want a bad thing its startup performance which I expect isn't a big deal for any individual. I have used tax cut at the same time since I felt the need to double check some complex return issues and in the end its a wash on the tax calculation. I happen to really like the TT forms view for quick action. In any case if your buying software its what I would (and do) buy.

I have a simple return (don't itemize deductions), use the free version, and have never had a problem with it.

I've been using it since 2001 and have been satisfied with it.

Was annoyed that the 2020 version required me to update to Windows 10 (Windows 8 or higher) as I wanted to stay on Windows 7. I updated a seldom used laptop just so I could use TurboTax.

I use Turbo Tax. My taxes are complicated. Multiple businesses, multiple W2s, schedule C expenses, rental income, and like a dozen investment accounts.

Your taxes appear to be pretty simple. Chances are you'll end up using the standard deduction.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Before I started using them, I had a tax preparer do mine. Guess what he used? Turbo Tax. After that, I said heck, I'm using it, also.

What he said - same. When I caught mistakes on preparer by using it, that was the push to cut the cord. They now offer audit protection and review, but the tax code is actually simpler these days than years past.

As an active duty service memver it is free for me.

With my now sjmple returns i am very pleased with it.

I used it for about 8 yrs without any issue, then for the last 3 yrs, I've been using H&R Block - not so much because of features, it was just due to the cost of TT; I also have a simple return.

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:

As an active duty service memver it is free for me.

Edmond (Original Poster) is Army Reserve officer currently on active duty. Would it be free for him, too? If so, he would probably appreciate being pointed in the correct direction to get it.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:

As an active duty service memver it is free for me.

Edmond (Original Poster) is Army Reserve officer currently on active duty. Would it be free for him, too? If so, he would probably appreciate being pointed in the correct direction to get it.

Its an option when you select your level of turbo tax. We get the middle one free. It will prompt you if youre active duty and discount at the end.

ETA: i dont know if they audit this, but if you list an employer as DFAS then i assume it knows youre AD or military.

I've used the free version for simple returns with no issues. Next year, I'm going to use my brother's guy. He charges $85.

I've used Turbo Tax Online now for a few years and it's been great, I think it cost me around $150 total to use it and e-file my state and federal taxes for 2020.

We went to a tax preparer like 5-6 years ago and he charged us something like $500. Our taxes are NOT complicated! Nope! learned our lesson the hard way there.

I use Block, not TT, but have used TT in the past, and there is not a whole lot of difference between the preparation process of the two programs. I file a Schedule C and several other schedules that many people don't, I'd classify my return as mid-level complexity in that I have, in the past, had to prepare several filings each year with different scenarios and assumptions where to take certain deductions. The recent changes in allowable deductions has rendered this exercise unnecessary.

Many many years ago, the company for which I worked and did the books used a CPA for tax-related matters, I am using this experience as a base of comparison to filing with tax prep. software. I find that the bulk of the work involved in filing is not the preparation of the return itself, but assembling and preparing the supporting documentation and schedules to obtain the correct figures for filing. Having a CPA/preparer reduces this burden hardly at all. I do use bookkeeping software that tracks virtually every transaction in both my business and personal financial affairs. This has made much more of a difference in filing than the tax filing software has done.

And, oh yeah, call me a dinosaur, but I will never ever file electronically. It is not that I am afraid things will go wrong in the filing process, but that, when the IRS comes back to me three years from now and wants to see my "paperwork," that I will have it in a medium I can access, not on the spinning disks of some uncaring corporation's cloud servers.

I've used Turbo Tax for over 25 years with absolutely no problems including the 20+ years I ran a business.

I also have investment income and it covered that completely.

Love it.

I use a CPA for tax prep because my return is quite complicated. I am dilligent in reporting my income and deductions but problems arise from time to time. I have received three separate inquires this year as to my 2019 tax return. He took care of them for me.

I know others are happy with Turbo Tax.